Venezuela

1959-04-03

Villas Martinique Casa 131 El Morro, Lecherias, Anzoategui, Venezuela

V-4719253, Cedula No.; 144763935, Passport

From November 2019 through January 2020, former Venezuelan governor David Eugenio De Lima Salas (De Lima Salas) — working with former Executive Vice President and Minister of Industry and current Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami (El Aissami) and Colombian money launderer Alex Saab (Saab) — was the leader of two vote-buying corruption schemes known as “Operation Green Briefcase” (Operación Maletín Verde) and “Operation Scorpion” (Operación Alacrán) that he orchestrated on behalf of Maduro. The Maduro regime, with De Lima Salas’s leadership, purportedly bought the votes of opposition deputies in the National Assembly in amounts of up to $1 million dollars. These bribes were made for the purpose of undermining the January 2020 re-election of Juan Guaidó as president of the National Assembly. The cash for the bribes allegedly was supplied by El Aissami and Saab’s money laundering and corruption networks, which OFAC previously targeted with sanctions. De Lima Salas still plays a critical role in undermining Venezuelan democracy and rigging the upcoming 2020 parliamentary elections. Through Operation Scorpion, De Lima Salas, together with the Maduro-regime-aligned Supreme Court of Justice and Maduro-aligned members of the National Electoral Council, has sought to strip opposition political parties of the their ability to operate by allowing corrupt members of the National Assembly to co-opt the legitimate opposition parties’ proprietary brands, logos, symbols, and cards, with the goal of destroying legitimate opposition parties, suppressing votes, and tilting future elections in favor of the Maduro regime. De Lima Salas, a former National Assembly deputy and former Governor, is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13692, as amended, for being responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, or having participated in, directly or indirectly, public corruption by senior officials within the Government of Venezuela.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1115

2020-09-04

US

Executive Order 13692 Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela

OFAC country specific

Venezuela

Blocking Property, Suspending Entry

• https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1581 • https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/932241/download?inline

On July 10, 2015, OFAC issued the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 591 (the ‘‘Regulations’’) (80 FR 39676, July 10, 2015) to implement the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113– 278) and Executive Order 13692 of March 8, 2015 (‘‘Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (E.O. 13692). The Regulations were published in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. Since then, the President has issued six additional Executive orders pursuant to the national emergency declared in E.O. 13692: Executive Order 13808 of August 24, 2017 (‘‘Imposing Additional Sanctions With Respect to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (82 FR 41155, August 29, 2017); Executive Order 13827 of March 19, 2018 (‘‘Taking Additional Steps to Address the Situation in Venezuela’’) (83 FR 12469, March 21, 2018); Executive Order 13835 of May 21, 2018 (‘‘Prohibiting Certain Additional Transactions With Respect to Venezuela’’) (83 FR 24001, May 24, 2018); Executive Order 13850 of November 1, 2018 (‘‘Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (83 FR 55243, November 2, 2018); Executive Order 13857 of January 25, 2019 (‘‘Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to Venezuela’’) (84 FR 509, January 30, 2019); and Executive Order 13884 of August 5, 2019 (‘‘Blocking Property of the Government of Venezuela’’) (84 FR 38843, August 7, 2019).

SDN